Algarrobina is Peru's creamy, dessert-like pisco cocktail, built around algarrobina — a dark, molasses-thick syrup pressed from the pods of the algarrobo (a Peruvian carob tree of the dry north coast). Blended with pisco, unsweetened evaporated milk and an egg yolk, then dusted with cinnamon, it comes out the colour of milky coffee with a tan, velvety foam. Sweet, rich and gently boozy, it drinks more like liquid dessert than an aperitif. It is a fixture of Christmas and year-end celebrations across Peru.
The drink belongs to Peru's criollo tradition; algarrobina syrup itself has long been valued on the north coast as a nourishing, mildly medicinal sweetener. Accounts of a milk-and-pisco punch in this family go back generations, with the carob syrup and evaporated milk giving it the modern creamy form; precise origins of the cocktail as served today are not firmly documented. It is strongly associated with the Christmas season, when it is poured at family gatherings throughout the country.
The colour of café con leche under a thick tan foam, dusted with cinnamon. Sweet and creamy on the tongue, with the deep raisiny, faintly chocolatey note of carob, warm cinnamon spice, and the pisco's grape brandy showing only as gentle warmth. Thick enough to coat the glass; a sipping, after-dinner pour.
Everything goes into a blender (or shaker) with ice: pisco, algarrobina syrup, evaporated milk and egg yolk, blitzed until thick, pale and frothy. The egg yolk emulsifies the spirit and milk into a smooth, slightly aerated body — the same lecithin-rich yolk that thickens custards. Evaporated milk, not fresh, gives the right concentrated creaminess without watering the drink down. Pour and finish with a dusting of ground cinnamon.
Variations
Some recipes add a second egg yolk for extra richness, or a spoonful of sugar for sweeter palates; nutmeg may stand in for or join the cinnamon. Lighter versions use less milk for a more spirit-forward drink, and a few bars finish with a float of evaporated milk. The non-alcoholic batido swaps pisco for more milk as a children's treat.
On the Palate
Where Algarrobina sits in the Peruvian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 1How it's made
7 steps · 6 min
- 11 min
Add the pisco, algarrobina syrup, evaporated milk and egg yolk to a blender.
- 21 min
Add a handful of ice cubes.
- 31 min
Blend on high until thick, pale and frothy, about 20 seconds.
Watch outBlend until thick, pale and frothy — the egg yolk emulsifies the pisco and milk into that smooth aerated body; under-blend and it stays thin.
- 41 min
Taste and adjust sweetness with a little syrup or sugar if needed.
- 51 min
Pour into a chilled wine glass or tumbler.
- 61 min
Dust the foam generously with ground cinnamon.
- 71 min
Serve immediately with a short straw or spoon.
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